cinaed

Session 1 (7/21)

Over the waters of the Astvian Sea, in its center high above the ocean, above the birds, above the ships crossing the deep sea, there is a large, twisting city-state above the clouds. This feels a mirage of a city, a flicker of reality disappearing and reappearing.

There is a central tower that is about fifteen, twenty towers tall, with bridges and walkways and pathways and streams of thick arcane magic that leads to smaller alcoves and rooms and smaller buildings. There’s no residential area, and the place isn’t well populated.

At this moment there are a few people walking side by side and all wearing masks.

One is seated on a stoop, wearing a mask that seems like a wall, while another, their heir, is wearing a cloth mask over their mouth and excitedly flipping through a book. Everyone else is wearing ornate metal masks.

There are six runic teleportation circles. In each there is a pedestal with a book. One of the pedestals begins to light as the half-drow woman Tristesse “Triss” de la Ronde appears. Her eyes are like blue steel, and she is dressed in fine clothing with a red half-capelet and silvery white hair and large glasses. Her mask is white with the appearance of feathers.

There is a strict sign in and out policy for the Archive. If they do not sign in by touching their hand to the pedestal’s book, then they will get caught by magic and the Puppeteer, an aarakocra named Kib, will be very displeased. Triss needs to reach out a hand and touch the book and have it magically scan her and her mask.

She looks up and sees a familiar person approaching that fills her with rage. She and her companions had a grand summoning to the Archive for a special announcement. This is not the person who summoned her, but this is a tiefling called the Wanderer who travels to Other Planes. He was the person Triss wanted to see the most. His mask is rare in that it can change appearance, currently looking like a paper mache of almost smoldering book pages.

He throws out a hand and says it’s so nice to see the Swan. When he asks if she missed him, she says no. When he says the Archivist will probably have good stories, Triss says that she doesn’t have time for stories. As she continues to be curt, he asks if this is about the Feywild, and she says that she wouldn’t know, she wasn’t there. It becomes clear that they have similar ambassador duties in the Archive and he received an assignment she wanted as he protests that the Fey Courts don't want to talk to everyone.

He gives her an orb, an unbreakable one that is exactly like ones he has given her before, much to her irritation. Then he asks if she thinks it’s going to be a Naming, if they lost someone. She says she doesn’t engage in idle speculation and he admits that’s probably wise.

He says he’s going to drop stuff off at the Curator’s and talk to Wolfie. When he invites her to sit with him at the after-party, she refuses, and he sighs and says that he guesses today won’t be the day she isn’t a stuck up bitch.

The invitation had told Triss to go to the central room where the archivists gather, so she heads there directly.

As she does, another podium lights up and a slender elf steps out. Yves Ducasse is fairly young for a high elf, the equivalent of his late twenties, with blue scales on his throat, blue freckles, and a facial scar. He has a white streak in his blond hair which is pulled back in a ponytail, and a rapier at his side. His mask is a copper hawk with a sharp beak.

Yves shakes off the feeling he gets with every teleportation. He puts his hand on the book, keeping alert and immediately catching a small shade of darkness darting around the space and manifesting out of raw smoke.

She is a relatively tall half-orc woman who is always wearing long flowing robes with short cropped black hair and a streak of white in her hair as well. She wears a mask that is steel partially obscured by an undulating smoke. This is the Shade, a woman called Calliope, who immediately extends a hand to shake.

There’s a pause before he deliberately shakes her hand as he says it’s good to see that she is still here. She says same, she has very specific instructions for him upon arrival and the Dove when he arrives as well.

Yves says that he can hear his instruction now if necessary, and she tells him that he and the Dove need to come to see the Archivist before the meeting. When she adds that he and the Dove need to keep this private and to themselves, Yves cocks his head to the side and says understood and asks if he should go now.

The Shade says as soon as possible.

Yves and the Dove, Asmund Galamista, met during the war for Valnorian independence, about forty years ago. They’re not technically the first veterans to be part of the Archive, the first was the Arctic Fox, Ivaesian Daveena. The Archivist Sorani Solray, although Valnorian himself, did not fight in Valnore because he was considered too important to lose.

The Shade drops Yves’ hand and says that she knows he knows where the office is, but she’ll escort him anyway. She says the Archivist might want to talk to him before the Dove gets there but if not they can have tea. It always tastes funny here. She thinks it is the magic.

She takes him up a ramp. As he leaves, he hears the distinct sound of a teleportation circle activating again as an older drow woman, Paravia Para Parnum, appears. She has two stick pins holding her white hair up, and she is fidgeting with some rotating runes in the palm of one hand. Her mask looks like a phoenix’s face except colored black and gold.

Paravia has received the same invitation as everyone else, but as she steps through, there is no one waiting for her. She knows where to go and what to do, being the oldest Keeper here after the last Arctic Fox passed. It’s very cut and dry. The Archivist has changed once in her tenure here, when she was very young, five hundred years ago. She knows there is an announcement and a ceremony every time a mask is passed down.

She had been tempted to try and skip but knows someone would have come to her to ask why. A piece of paper flutters quietly to land in front of her. She sighs deeply and picks it up. It is addressed to the Phoenix.

Boring!!! I got something cool. Thought you might want to see. -C

Paravia knows that the only person who sends weird notes and would have interesting things is the Curator. She studies and catalogs the magical artifacts the Keepers find. The Curator is a fellow drow who has decided Paravia is her very best friend.

Paravia takes the opportunity to delay going to the boring meeting, heading past her office, which is filled with her notes and books and special lighting for her elderly drow eyes, and to the Curator’s office, which is kept at a perfect magical temperature.

Inside the office, it is a constant backlog. The Curator has a day job as well as working through all the random things the Keepers bring to her to study and sort. There is enchanted armor and jewels and books, and hunched over another array of items is the Curator. Her mask is a very simple silver over her eyes, almost wrinkling at the edges like a book.

The second Paravia enters, the Curator looks up and exclaims that she got her note. She sweeps back her long skirt and gestures to three different books laying there being preserved. Paravia looks at them closely, realizing how old they are and that they are the original copies of very old attempts at constricting magic. These would have been created around the time of the Archive’s founding.

Magic used to be funneled through Tsaliora. When the gods recused themselves, magic became untameable and wild. It was only once Rova was created as the Conduit that magic became manageable to use once more. This person wrote these during the Lost Era, trying to control magic without the aid of Tsaliora or Rova. It looks dangerous but fascinating.

Paravia asks where she found these, and the Curator says it arrived via the Stork, the delivery Keeper. She doesn’t know who specifically dropped off this collection, but her guess is someone from or visiting Striog. The books don’t mention Melisandra, the Archmage and founder of the Archive.

The Curator says she thought Paravia would enjoy these books after the meeting. When Paravia asks if she can take the books back to her office or if she should keep them here, the Curator assures her that the Phoenix is welcome to any books.

Meanwhile back at the teleportation circles a half-elf dressed in the colors of Rova automatically puts his hand on the book, wanting to do everything right. He doesn’t look thin and scrawny, like he should be able to hold up his shield or the longsword at his side, but he moves like he knows how to use them. His mask is varying grays and brown metals, mimicking the beaked face of a dove.

The Shade greets him and tells him that Yves got here first, which Asmund is unsurprised by. When she tells him that the Archivist wants to see him and Yves before the meeting, Asmund instinctively changes his body language and comes to attention. He says he won’t keep the Archivist waiting, and she leads him to the Archivist’s office.

Asmund is one of the youngest keepers, and still looks around with amazement as he and the Shade briefly discuss her teleportation magic. When they get to the office, she disappears in a puff of smoke as Yves silently hands him a tea cup. When he gives Yves a questioning look and tilt of his head, Yves shrugs. While the Hawk and the Dove are almost always side by side, Yves is occasionally sent on single missions and has been gone for a few weeks.

The teleportation circle sends a woman in a fancy gold outfit out, who bumps into people and apologizes. Victoria Blackthorn is a little distracted, worried about missing a competition she is participating in that night. As she murmurs to herself that she hopes it won’t go too long, another voice agrees and welcomes the Sparrow back to the Archive.

The Puppeteer is standing next to her, a tall, thin aarakocra with a mask that mimics the top of a puppet’s strings. He complains that he hates when a lot of people are around. People are terrible and it’s so hard to keep track of all of them. When he compliments Victoria on her look, Victoria says she took it from a woman she liked.

The Puppeteer says he shouldn’t like her changing looks so much since it is a safety issue but it keeps him sharp and it looks good on her. He says that there was an earlier issue with the podiums with two people but it got resolved.

Victoria asks how many people are going to be there, and the Puppeteer sighs and informs her that while it won’t be everyone, it’s going to be at least twenty-five or thirty people. Victoria blinks and asks if it was optional then. The Puppeteer says he wishes so too, but he’s pretty sure that the ones missing have proper excuses. The Tender is reattaching limbs at the moment, something about a shipwreck, a shark, and a seal. She should ask the Tender about it later, since the Puppeteer wasn’t really listening.

Victoria and the Puppeteer make plans to survive the meeting together in his spot high above the other keepers.

Tueni 'Bearkiller' Thuliaga teleports in as a black bear, shambling up to put a paw on the podium. It engulfs the podium as three people teleport in. Two look shocked, but the third raises a hand and calls him by name. Tueni gently high fives him.

The cart of the Stork grinds to a halt in front of him. On it is a buff but tiny mousefolk. The Stork greets Tueni and tells him that he has a letter for him, which he can give to him now or afterwards. He asks if Tueni has a pocket he could put it in.

Tueni has a satchel slung over one enormous shoulder and opens it for him with a careful bear claw. The Stork disappears into his cart before emerging with a magically sealed letter for Tueni. He asks if Tueni has any letters to send or anything exciting to deliver to the Curator.

Tueni pulls out a necklace from the lizardfolk in the marshes and offers it to him. After the Stork shows him a tiny bear figurine, Tueni heads off to the Archive itself. There are rows upon rows of books and artifacts that have been labeled on the walls. There are tea cups that won’t spill for people to drink.

High above, in the rafters, the Puppeteer has made a private nest for himself.

The centerpiece of the meeting space is a giant globe in the center with rings and orbs circling it. It looks at first glance like a globe of Astvanor, but the more people look at it, the more unnerving it is. The more it’s viewed, the more it seems to shift and alter. Underneath it is the collection of space for chairs and tables and places for people to sit and read and relax.

If Tueni goes down any hallway he knows there will be more places to read and relax.

There is also the Wall of Masks. It is a large glass display. The top row is completely empty. Below it, most of the spots are empty since most of the masks are in use. All but Asmund have witnessed the solemn return of two masks to the display, in which a keeper was killed without having an heir. The Archivist will choose a successor generally after a time of mourning.

This time it was the Moon and the Sun, who died together.

It is both comforting and solemn to see. Most noticeably, the mask no one has seen moved or touched, one that has been there since even before Paravia became a Keeper, has a filigree bent to it. Where the cheekbones would be, two sharp points curl out like sword blades. This is the mask of the Archmage, which has not been worn since the first one died without any heir. This one and the Archivist’s mask are both magically bound to be passed along a certain bloodline.

Tueni is not the last person to arrive in the crowd, but he is one of the last. He spies Victoria and Para as Victoria tries to climb up to the Puppeteer’s roost.

When she fails, the Puppeteer comes and collects her. He cheers her up by pointing out the Bear, who’s balding. Looking past him to Tueni, they get into a theoretical discussion on if the Mockingbird is shaved in wildshape if he would be shaved when he shifts back.

The Curator sits down next to Para. Triss sits between the Lock and the Key, a pair of sea elf twins. She doesn’t know what they do for the Archive, but that was the only spot that was flanked on both sides. They don’t speak in unison but they do finish each other’s sentences.

She hoped to avoid the Wanderer, but he sits behind her as she inwardly groans. He leans forward with a fist held out to her and tells her to guess. She says she already knows. He asks her how she knows, and she says it’s the only thing he can give. He protests but does open his hand to reveal another small orb. She grudgingly accepts the orb.

Meanwhile, the Hawk and the Dove watch the door to the Archivist’s office magically swing open and a bored voice calls for them to come in. Yves goes in first, scanning the place instinctively. There is a miniature version of the strange globe on the bookshelf. The space looks more like a tenured professor office.

The Archivist is a sun elf with hair he keeps cut to shoulder length. Unusually for an elf, he has facial hair and is constantly wearing leather armor over his robes. He is an evocation wizard, as all Solrays are. He is younger than Para, about five hundred years old. His bronze mask is simple with red rubies dripping off it like a curtain. He is seated there with his fingers steepled before he greets them.

He tells them to take a seat and as they do, he says that he’s been attempting to retire, though it was difficult to do during the war. He decided to wait until matters were settled between Valnore and Previdian. He says he’s sure they understand the complications.

Asmund is distracted being told to sit in the presence of the Archivist rather than stand at attention, but Yves knows that the Archivist has only one heir. While Asmund and others served under General Tassarel, Yves served with all the other spellcasters under Sae’var Solray in that final stand to end the war.

They both know part of the closely guarded secrets that Solray was extremely grievously wounded and it was unknown at first that he was going to survive. While it has now been twenty years, they know that Solray has not fully recovered.

The Archivist says that it has been twenty years, it’s time to move on. He’s planning on announcing his retirement today. He wants to know if they can deal with the little problems that his son’s succession might cause. The Archivist makes the tough decisions and will need guiding hands.

Asmund holds his shield at his knees and says he’ll do whatever the Archive needs.

Yves asks with all due respect if it isn’t too soon. Can the Archivist’s son even do magic? The Archivist says he can, but Yves sees through the lie as the Archivist says that it is peace time, twenty years has been more than enough time.

He dismisses them. Asmund waits until the door is closed before he leans in towards Yves and says that he knows the Archive is supposed to be of the world and not of their homelands, but it’ll be interesting to see how certain people take the shift in power, meaning the Previdians.

They join the others, Tueni to one side taking up space, and another gap around Kyras of people who don’t want orbs. Yves simmers in rage and Asmund instinctively flanks him, refusing to sit until Yves does. Tueni nudges at Yves with a wet nose and looks inquiringly at him.

Yves just makes a frustrated noise.

Asmund pats Tueni’s head when Tueni looks at him. He says that he doesn’t think he’s supposed to say anything, but he thinks Tueni will figure it out after this announcement. Tueni grunts in dissatisfaction.

The lights lower and a hush falls over the crowd as the Archivist descends from his office.

Para rolls her eyes so hard that the Curator laughs under her breath.

He moves to stand in front of the display. He spreads out his hands and thanks them all for attending at such short notice. He knows that they would prefer to be elsewhere, with other responsibilities in their lives, but it is times like this quorum that they need to be reminded that their lives are in this Archive. They all have spent years, decades, centuries serving to make this place safe, sound, and wonderful. It has been his tremendous honor to be the Archivist, to oversee the difficult decisions and welcome new people. He glances at Asmund specifically, who shifts uncomfortably at the attention.

The Archivist continues with his speech. They are the last true divider between the wilds of magic and the things gifted to the world by the Conduit. They are the keepers of knowledge that cannot be left for everyone who needs it, the last stand against wayward magics. They don’t seek magic for their own power or advancement of the Archive. Their duty is to preserve the knowledge as it exists and ensure that it cannot be abused, no matter how great the cost.

He takes a deep breath, looking briefly at the Dove and the Hawk, before he says, “It is with great honor and reverence, that I–”

The light runes suddenly snap and break within the walls of the tower. A magical darkness that is inhuman and unnatural swallows all of the group at once as the Archivist goes silent.

There are confused and startled sounds from the Keepers.

The Archivist orders, “Everyone, hold for a moment,” before there is shattering glass from all around and three high terrified screams fill the air.

Para feels a weird chill next to her. She reaches out instinctively and feels the space where the Curator was is empty. Elsewhere, the Puppeteer grabs Victoria’s arm and then is gone, Victoria alone in this nest. She slides her hands over the roost and finds nothing but shattered glass cutting her palms.

Triss feels the twins tense up on either side of her before she hears a muffled sound behind her. There’s the distinct sound of another orb falling and hitting the back of her foot. As she whirls around, both relieved and alarmed, spellcasters throughout the place banish the magical darkness.

Asmund and Yves see the Archivist still standing in front of the now broken display, where the mask of the Archmage has disappeared. Everyone has a moment to process that and realize that three of their companions have disappeared.

Then the shattered glass begins to twitch and shift on the floor as one of the Puppeteer’s defenses is activated.